Pirate Threat: 'Entire Shipping System' Vulnerable In Southeast Asia

Australian ships are having to navigate increasingly perilous regional seas.

Australian vessels are at risk from more marine bandits in southeast Asia.

Forget Somalia. Australia's backyard is fast becoming the new global hub for ocean piracy, with Aussie vessels under increasing risk of attack, a new report has found.

The Allianz report, released Monday, found piracy attacks in southeast Asia were on the rise and the region was now responsible for about 60 percent of worldwide attacks.

Piracy now represented "a major concern for Australian ship owners and operators", a statement accompanying the report said.

Vietnam's oceans are the most dangerous in southeast Asia, accounting for 147, or 55 percent, of attacks last year, up from 37 percent in the previous corresponding period.

In Vietnam, the southern port of Vung Tau was where more than half of the hijackings took place in 2015.

Indonesia is another trouble spot, with authorities there said to be concerned attacks along its sea border with the Philippines could reach previous Somalian levels.

The increase in Asian piracy comes as attacks off Africa's east coast -- long considered the epicentre of global pirate operations -- have fallen sharply as ships moving through the area have stepped up their defenses.

"The internet of things has opened up the shipping industry to the potential for hackers to access shipping company and port records, as well as on-board vessel identification and navigational systems," he said.